His act is SO TIRED. I loved it when he tried to bully larry brooks and larry would have none of it. Granted, brooks is a HORRIBLE hockey analyst and his articles are pretty embarrassing, but for the coach of an NHL team to try to bully and make vague threats to a member of the media is beyond pathetic. I wish this guy would just go away. I can't even imagine how much I would hate to play for this guy. The rangers think the got the new Mike Keenan who was going to push all of the right buttons this year. I love seeing them toil in mediocrity after being a cup favorite out of the east and this moron has to answer questions about it after every game. Warms my heart.

letsgoalpens wrote:His act is SO TIRED. I loved it when he tried to bully larry brooks and larry would have none of it. Granted, brooks is a HORRIBLE hockey analyst and his articles are pretty embarrassing, but for the coach of an NHL team to try to bully and make vague threats to a member of the media is beyond pathetic. I wish this guy would just go away. I can't even imagine how much I would hate to play for this guy. The rangers think the got the new Mike Keenan who was going to push all of the right buttons this year. I love seeing them toil in mediocrity after being a cup favorite out of the east and this moron has to answer questions about it after every game. Warms my heart.

Agreed. The act is old and very unprofessional. I'm surprised he's not reprimanded by the league at all. I'm not trying to be a prude, and it's one thing to go nuts on your team on the ice, but to have a mic in front of your mouth and spout off with the language is a joke and bad for the league. I would think?

Pavel Bure wrote:My favorite is when he got Prospal mad and he told Torts in broken English to shove it up his butt.

Actually, I think Prospal is quite eloquent. The actual interview is here (and his English is even better these days):

Interestingly, this is what Prospal said about Tortorella later (I think it answers some of the questions whether players would "hate to play for him"

Q: A lot has been written about your above-standard relationship with coach John Tortorella. Are you two really that close?

A: I guess yes, because if it weren't for John I might not have been even playing hockey by now.

Q: And two years ago you actually had some conflicts with this coach. You even said on TV that he, freely translated, could shove your goals somewhere.

A: People remember only the bad, what the newspapers reported. But few people know who Tortsy is off the ice. We know each other not just like a player and a coach, but mainly as people. And that now and then we have some hockey-related conflicts, well, stuff happens. When I lost my job, we wrote and called one another, even our families visit each other. And we of course talk hockey, but other things as well.

Q: When Tom Renney coached the Rangers, Jagr and the other praised his player-friendly approach. But Tortorella isn't such a democrat, is he?

A: That's something different. In his private life he is a different person than in the arena. The fans often see how furious he is on the bench, but they don't know how good a person he is off the ice. He does have two faces.

Q: Do you feel obligated to him?

A: I don't have it easier here because of him. To the contrary. He put a word for me here and in this regard I am under more pressure. I want to repay him so that nobody beats him in the head {kicks his butt} one of those days because he took me here.